SUKKUR, Oct 12: A central leader of the People’s Party Parliamentarians, Khursheed Shah, has said that his party will hold talks with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement for forming a government in Sindh

Shah, who, according to the unofficial election results, has won from NA-198 (Sukkur), was talking to journalists here on Friday.

He said that PPP chief Makhdoom Amin Fahim may talk to MQM leader Altaf Hussain in London on this issue but added in the same breath: “Being busy in the election affairs, I am unable to contact Fahim who is in London at present.”

He said that it would be a difficult task for the PPP to form the provincial government on its own, adding that the results of the election could cause problems for his party.

He described the success of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal as a new turn in the politics of Pakistan and said that it was a reaction to the foreign policy of President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

However, he argued that if Benazir Bhutto had not been barred from returning to Pakistan, the MMA would not have bagged such a large number of seats.

He also said that the PPP had got lesser seats than it excepted, because the party leadership was not in the country. “ If Ms Bhutto had been here and Gen Musharraf had not caused problems for the PPP, it could have bagged 120 seats in National Assembly,” he insisted.

Shah also admitted to opposition to some PPP candidates inside the party. “At some constituencies, the PPP candidates for the National Assembly opposed the party’s provincial candidates and at other places the latter opposed the former,” he said.

He opined that due to this factor, the PPP was deprived of at least 72 seats, which were lost by a narrow margin.

A large number of the supporters congratulated the PPP leader at the local party office.